Building Collapse Temporarily Closes Law Office and County Courthouse in Freeport, Ill.

Attorney Tim Mahoney's day Wednesday began with a bang, literally.

At a few minutes after 6 a.m. he got a call from the police department in Freeport, Ill. The building next to his law office on Galena Avenue had collapsed, putting Mahoney & Hauser's structure at risk, too, reports the Journal-Standard.

“I was allowed to go back into the building, just to get essential materials ... computers and personal effects,” Mahoney tells the newspaper. He adds: “We are setting up temporary facilities, and we hope to have the phones up and running soon,” although he didn't, at last report, know where his new law office would be located.

Meanwhile, the Stephenson County courthouse, which also is located on Galena Avenue across the street from the buckled building, was temporarily closed. It reopened for business as usual this morning, a woman answering the phone in the circuit court clerk's office tells the ABA Journal.